"What are you doing here?" I asked Grandpa Hal as he put his arms around both me and Laney and walked with us into the house. Jessie doing so just before us and watching from the entrance to the living room. The driver bringing the luggage in a few moments later. He left shortly after being paid.

"Well..." Hal said as Dad came down the hall and smiled as he saw our guest.

"Well, Hal, you senile old fossil," Dad said as me and Laney laughed. "Did they let you out of the home? Or did you escape?"

"You always were a rotten son-of-a-bitch." Hal said as he and Dad shook hands and laughed.

"You here to stay Grandpa?" Laney asked as she hugged him happily.

"If I can find a place that's suitable," Hal said.

"AHEM," Jessie said as she looked pointedly at Laney. Me thinking quickly and grabbing Jessie's hand in mine and saying, "Grandpa Hal this is my girlfriend Jessie."

"I thought you said your significant other was named Jessie?" Hal asked Laney.

"She is my girlfriend," Laney said as she grabbed Jessie's other hand and a tug of war ensued as we giggled and tried to pull Jessie back to our side.

"Stop!" Jessie finally said as she pulled away. Me giggling as Laney glared at me.

"See, she is my girlfriend," Laney said.

"No, I'm not," Jessie said pointedly. "You've never asked me to be that."

"OK, I'm asking," Laney said.

"Go on," Jessie said as I laughed and Laney groaned. Knowing now she would have to ask.

"Go on Elaine, you couldn't do much better," Hal said as Jessie smiled.

"Be my girlfriend, seriously?" Laney asked as Jessie grinned and nodded her head as Laney hugged her and the two kissed. "Hey Y'all."

"Hey Y'all," Jessie said as both smiled.

"Grandpa this is Jessie James," Laney said proudly. "She is now my girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you!"

"You too!"

"Now that the drama is concluded..." Hal said, "...how about we find me some suitable accommodations?"

"Right here," Laney said. "OK, Dad?"

"Dad?" Hal asked as Dad blushed.

"He said I could call him that and he's done a lot for me," Laney said.

"I don't see why you can't stay here while you're in town," Dad said. "We could manage and I'm pretty sure both of my daughters would love that idea."

"Yesss!" Laney and I said at the same moment.

"You can have my room," Laney said. "I can bunk with Taylor, right my girl?"

"Sure, I got a big bed," I said as Laney came over and hugged me.

"Ohhhh in that case, can I sleep over?" Jessie asked as everyone looked at her like she was crazy. "What? I'm pretty sure Laney and Taylor would like that idea."

"Yep," I said as me and Laney laughed.

"Go home," Dad said as Jessie giggled.

"He's right, I got chores and homework," Jessie said as she kissed Laney and left a few moments later.

"I love her Grandpa!"

"That's obvious," Hal said as I nodded my head.

><> (: ~ :) <>< MICKIE'S 'point of view' ><> (: ~ :) <><

I arrived home and found that Jessie's VW bug was already parked in the driveway as was Dad's car. I got out with the events of a few moments passed still on my mind. The sudden appearance of Raegan's mother I just knew would be trouble for me and Taylor. I didn't know how or when but I had it stuck in my head that it would. I grabbed my book bag out of the back and crashed into Jessie as she came around the corner and out of the garage. A box of stuff crashing to the ground and fumbling around inside.

"Sorry, Cuz," I said as she giggled and picked up the box of stuff. "What are you doing?"

"Uncle Mike put me to work," Jessie said with a pooched lip. "Said I had to earn my keep."

"How can you not be my sister with jokes that retarded?" I asked as Jessie laughed and for some unexplainable reason I saw the resemblance we shared for a moment, around her eyes for some reason reminded me of... me.

"Get serious, help me?" she asked as I nodded and took the box she had and took it inside as I went into the kitchen. "Hey Dad, where does this go?"

"Stick it in the attic somewhere," Dad (Michael) said off-handedly as he read over some financial documents at the counter. I shrugged and headed up the steps and pulled down the ladder that led to the attic. Climbing up carefully and setting it inside, I took a moment to look around at the huge complex that was our attic. Covering the entire second floor of the house, it was massive. Several problems though, it was filled with years of built up junk and the only access was the flimsy folding ladder that I was now standing on.

"Family docs, DO NOT OPEN!" The Box read in big bold black strokes on the side as I disappeared up the final few steps to the attic and sat down.

"MICKIE?" Jessie practically screamed as she came to the bottom of the folding steps. I looked down and waved her up. "Whatcha being nosey about?"

"Hold on," I said as I pulled the folding stairs up and closed them as she looked at me strangely. Then showing her the box of 'family docs' and asking, "Wanna find out what secrets the family is hiding?"

"You are a drama queen Mikala," Jessie said as I grinned and nodded. "But hell, I'm bored, open it."

"Let's see..." I said as I pulled out a bunch of papers and began to sort through them. Jessie laying back on the floor and looking around as I sorted through more crap. "My family is really boring."

"So is mine," Jessie giggled. "My Dad's idea of excitement is watching football without the internet to look up stats."

"What about Aunt Amy?" I asked.

"She thinks it's really death defying to knit without a hoop," Jessie said with a serious face as I laughed.

"What about your cousins back home?" I asked.

"What cousins, you're my only cousin," she said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, Dad said all of Mom's family was either dead or hated him for various reasons," Jessie said. "I've never met any of her family and of course you've only got one Uncle. So, you my only cousin."

"And you never met you're real dad?"

"Nope," Jessie said. I smiled and turned back to the box and pulled out one last piece of paper that looked innocent enough, though it was ripped in half with some scribbled notes on the back. But what it would end up doing is changing (eventually) both mine and Jessie's life forever.

I looked at it rather strangely and felt my stomach drop out as I realized what I held in my hands. It was Jessie's birth certificate. Reading across the top that it was just that. 'Jessie Elizabeth James' it read in the name and surname column. Huh? Jessie's real name is... Jessie and not Jessica? What the fuck was up with that? A mystery is born.

Place of birth was my eyes next stop and this is where the heart stopping mystery really begins, I read it aloud, "Place of Birth, Fairview Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio?"

"Huh?" Jessie asked as she sat up. Having been lost in thought about Laney.

"I just found something..." I said with trembling hands and showed her.

"That's me, that's mine, I was born in Cleveland?" She asked as she read the contents on the paper. "This can't be mine."

"It's got your name on it, Elizabeth," I said as she shot me a dirty look. She hates her middle name.

"Shut up... Jessie," she said in reply, using my middle name to try and get a rise out of me. "This sucks you've got a cool middle name and I don't."

"Ha Ha," I giggled as she glared at me. "And what's up with your name being Jessie and not Jessica?"

"Huh?" She asked and looked back at the paper, her eyes going seriously wide in that moment in surprise. "This must be a practical joke... Mickie, I'll kill you if it is."

"Nope," I said simply. "I wouldn't do you that way, besides my thing is dumb jokes not cruel practical jokes."

"Yeah, I know," Jessie said with a concerned look on her face. "This thing can't be real though."

"Looks real, what there is of it," I said as Jessie flipped it over and looked at the scribbled note on the back.

"Ohmigod, this is weird," Jessie said as she handed it to me. "Read that."

"Given Mikala's middle name," I read. "So?"

"I think this means I was named after you," Jessie said with a bright smile. "You think?"

"Would explain a lot," I said as we touched foreheads and giggled. "So that means I'm the reason you got a cool name."

"Tell me about it, like why is half of it missing?" I asked as I showed her and she shrugged.

"And why was I named after someone who was only a year older and I'm only related to by marriage?" Jessie asked. "When Mom had me she didn't even know your dad. I don't think."

"And the mystery deepens," I said in an announcer's voice as Jessie laughed. Then getting a shocked look on her face before starting to flail her hands as if she were gasping for breath. "What? Jessie..."

"I have a copy of my original birth certificate downstairs," Jessie announced. "And I know for a fact that it says I was born in Omaha, Nebraska at Children's Memorial Hospital."

"Think you can find it?" I asked. "Your room does look like a cyclone made a direct hit."

"Bite me, sister!"

"Sister?"

"Yeah, sister, cause the way this thing is going, we'll end up being sisters before it's all said and done," Jessie said. Prompting me to fall back on the floor laughing. "Shut up, it's not funny. I wouldn't wanna be your sister anyway."

"Yeah, cause then..." I said as I sat up and tried to control my giggles. "...we couldn't do the horizontal monkey dance. We'd really be related."

"You're beautiful cuz, but Laney is more my speed," Jessie said as she grinned knowingly.

"No, you want my girlfriend," I said as she grinned and simply nodded. "You slut!"

"You and her are together, I'm not gonna do it even if she wanted to," Jessie said honestly. "But what if you guys broke up, for real, could I?"

"If we broke up?" I asked as she nodded. "It's your life, I don't think there would be a huge deal. I already know you gott a thing for her."

"Hey, you got good taste," Jessie said as I grinned. "Do you blame me?"

"Not at all, and so do you," I said.

"You think Laney's hot?"

"Well..." I said with a shrug of the shoulders. "...she's no Taylor."

><> (: ~ :) <>< LYNSEY'S 'point of view' ><> (: ~ :) <><

"Someone's at the door, can you get that Lyns?" Maria asked as she popped head her out of the bedroom, groaned when she saw me with head phones on and motioned for me to take them off. "I said, can you answer the door, please?"

"Of course, all you had to do was ask," I said with a smirk. Walking by her and squealing when she grabbed my ass and pointed at me as a playful warning. Disappearing back inside the bedroom and back to her 'mission' of organizing her closet.

"Yeah? Oh hey girl," I said as I opened the door and seeing Rae standing on the other side.

"There's a weird girl out front that wants to talk to you," Rae said without a smile. Jealousy? "New girlfriend?"

"No, Maria is my girlfriend," I said. Rae shrugged and walked off as I wondered what was up with my new friend. Letting Maria know where I was going before heading down the front steps and passing by the Chan apartment and seeing a surprising figure sitting on the stoop. Marty Saybrook.

"Marty?" I asked as she stood up and smiled nervously, her hands shaking visibly. "What's wrong did someone hurt you?"

"I'm going into rehab," Marty said with an unsteady voice. "I'm scared to death."

"No reason to be," I said with a smile as I covered her hands in mine. A weird 'I'm being watched' feeling over coming me in that moment. "That's what's you need?"

"Ms. Fleming, the school drug counselor, said I needed it," Marty said. "And after some screaming and crying with Sammi and Alex... they laid it on the line and said I had to go. So I left."

"That's insane," I said as she shrugged and pulled her hands away from mine. "Wait, you fought with them when they wanted you to go and now you're going?"

"I have to make everything difficult," Marty said as I laughed. Just then taking a pair of keys out of her pocket and pushing them into my hands. "These are my car keys, you keep it for me?"

"You don't even know me," I said. "Why are you doing this?"

"I'm gonna trust someone for the first time and you seem so nice," Marty said as she took a deep breath. "Please?"

"I'll keep an eye on it," I said. "OK, if I drive it?"

"You drive?"

"Just got my license a few months ago, be my first car," I said as she giggled and smiled at me. "OK if I take it drag racing?"

"Nooo," she said as she grabbed for the keys and a giggling fight started over the keys in front of the building. Me squealing when she poked me not once but several times. Finally giving up as I pulled them away. "No, drag racing? Take care of my car, please? It's the only thing I own."

"I know what that's like," I said. "So, rehab tonight?"

"Gotta be there by six," she said. "I'm scared I can't do this."

"When was the last time you used?" I asked.

"Twelve minutes and fifteen seconds ago," she said with a smirk as she grinned at me. "And the fucked up thing is, I'm serious."

"Pot?"

"That's for amateurs," she giggled in a way that deeply concerned me. "Try cocaine."

"UMMMMMMM..."

"I stole some money from the Marvel's to get it" Marty said.

"Why would you steal from someone who was good to you?" I asked in shock. "That's wrong."

"It was an easy mark," Marty said. "I needed one more fix so bad it was killing me... and I got it."

"I don't know if I wanna be your friend," I said softly.

"You don't have to be," she said. "I know I don't deserve anybody to like me, but that day in the counselors office was fun and you gave me the courage to go through with it. You're kinda why I finally made myself do this."

"Me?" I asked in shock. She fished something out of her pocket and slid it into the same hand that held her keys.

"You," she said as I smiled and tensed for a brief second when she caressed my cheek and smiled at me. Something about this girls smile told me I was about to get in deep trouble.

"What's this?"

"Take that and give it to Mavis Marvel for me?" Marty asked. I almost wet myself when I looked down and saw it was a roll that could choke a horse. "Please?"

"If you needed to steal..."

"Horny old rich men will do anything for a sweet young thang," Marty said. "This money goes to Mavis and Alex, OK?"

"OK."

"By the way, I'm not gonna be to far away," Marty said nervously. "Come and see me a time or two?"

"Every day OK?" I asked with a teasing grin.

"If you want," she said as we stared at each other for a long moment. I vaguely remember hearing a sudden closing of a door and then some foot steps drawing closer. Marty snapped her head away, mumbled a quick goodbye and headed off down the street as Maria appeared at the door.

"You'd fuck her anyway," I said as Maria grinned. Then lowering my voice and asking, "Butt fuck her?"

"If you're in a 69 with her!"

"MMMMMMMM," I said as the spark of a really great idea was born. I stuffed the money and keys into my pocket as we began to kiss a few moments later. I'd eventually explain that night about Marty, but it wasn't until after Maria had done what she loves to do me... in my butt? Yeah that!

><> (: ~ :) <>< LANEY'S 'point of view' ><> (: ~ :) <><

"Jessie are you serious?" I asked as she relayed the whole story of her and Mickie's 'discovery' in the attic.

"I am dead serious," Jessie said. "And now me and Mickie are searching through my stuff to try and find my real birth certificate or my other one. Whatever. We're not having any luck."

"Don't stay up all night," I said as I exited the bathroom and walked into what was now mine AND Taylor's room. Seeing her changing into a pair of panties as I opened the door and getting a brief glimpse of her cute little ass (bare!). My eyes opened a bit at the sight of that, but far to soon she slipped her panties up and turned quickly and gave me a dirty look.

"I'm not, Mickie's already given up and went to work on her studies so I'm about to lay down," Jessie said. "You think I should just ask Uncle Mike?"

"Not before you find the real thing," I said. "If you have both you can have the evidence in hand. Make your argument that much more powerful."

"Good point," Jessie said as I grinned and sat down on the bed. "I better go and finish my homework and all. I love you."

"I love you too," I said as we hung up.

"Ready for bed?" Taylor asked as I laid my phone on the night stand. Turning to see her in a bra and panties. My eyes roaming up and down her body as she grinned. "What?"

"You are beautiful from head to toe, my girl," I said as she blushed.

"WOW!" Taylor said as she grinned and sat down on the other end of the bed. "I think I better put a night shirt on."

"That's a good idea," I said as I crawled under the covers. She joined me a moment later. "You call Mickie?"

"Yeah, she still loves me," Taylor said. "We talked about the whole fake birth certificate thing. I think it's just some kinda joke."

"Mickie is not that cruel."

"I mean something like, Michael playing a trick on his brother or something," Taylor said. "It's just weird and I'm afraid this is gonna lead to Jessie having to go home to Omaha."

"Yeah, I'm worried about that too," I admitted as Taylor smiled and slid closer and laid her head by mine. "I love her."

"You do?"

"Yes!"

"You sure it's not just lust?" Taylor asked with a devious smile on her face. Trying her best (I think) to change the subject and get me thinking about something entirely different.

"I've gotten off..." Taylor said and before she went on she snapped her hand up to her mouth as I giggled.

"You've gotten off a hundred times to that?" I asked as she grinned. "I know you do that, I've heard you, so do I."

"True," Taylor said. "That night was just sooo hot."

"I think I might get to do something like that soon," I commented. Taylor giving me a 'you are only trying to one-up me' look. "No, I'm serious, you heard Jessie about me, you and her?"

"Yeh!"

"We met a girl who works at the porn shop downtown and she might be interested in doing it," I said as Taylor's lip dropped open. "Maybe, I don't know, it's stuck in my head."

"So you bought a strap-on?" Taylor asked. I grinned and held up one finger to hold her up as I slid off the bed and ran into the closet and pulled out my overnight bag and sat it on the bed. Not wanting my nosey Grandpa to find anything that was inside, I stored it in Taylor's closet. I pulled out the box and showed it to her. "WOW! You were serious."

"Damn straight," I said as I sat back down opposite her on the bed as she rubbed her fingers over the cock. "See that one has little ridges on the shaft, and Sierra, the girl at the store, said that creates some extra sensations."